


Dragon Slayer

by ilovemygaydad



Category: Sander Sides, Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: fantasy!au, humans!au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-01-05 12:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12189606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovemygaydad/pseuds/ilovemygaydad
Summary: Prince Roman is off on a quest to slay the dragon that is ravaging his kingdom, only to find out his quest isn’t going to happen exactly as he thought.Warnings: swearing, minor character deaths, lots of mentions of death, a sort of really fucked up foster system, allusions to racism and classism and elitism (you know... the usual), lots of swearing, uhhh like the vaguest of mentions of pedophilia and kidnapping (though it’s all unwarranted), violence later in the chapters, verbal altercations, police brutality, probably more but i can’t think of anything off the top of my head.





	1. Chapter 1

For months, a dragon had been slaughtering cows on the border of Prince Roman’s kingdom. He had contacted the princes of the nearby kingdoms, Logan and Patton, but they had not had any problems.  _Fantastic_. 

Roman’s father had sent out dozens of search parties to try and find the dragon’s lair with no success. The kingdom was beginning to get antsy. Leather was one of the main exports of Elia, and with all of the cows being killed and eaten, they were running low on supplies. 

“Father, please let me come along to help find the monster! I’m better than many of the knights. I’d be a useful addition to the team,” Roman had begged.

“No, Roman!” the king boomed. “You will not be going along on the expeditions! It’s too dangerous!”

So, the only logical thing for Roman to do was to go out in the middle of the day to “visit Prince Patton for the day.” It truthfully was the only plausible excuse he could come up with, especially since he did often visit Prince Patton and go for rides with him. Roman packed up some food, an extra cloak, his sword, and a length of rope into a saddle bag and set off toward the edge of the kingdom on his trusty steed Twilight.

Now, two hours later, he was riding along the edge of the village, searching for anything that looked out of place. His village had a small mountain range at one edge, which was where the prince had decided to look first. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shimmering light, but once he looked, it had disappeared. Obviously, this was something that needed to be investigated. Roman hopped off of his horse and walked towards where he’d seen the sparkly thing. Upon closer inspection, however, it turned out to be what looked like a gemstone, probably some sort of amethyst.

The prince picked up the stone. He might as well keep it since it looked, as he described it in his head, hella fly. Suddenly, the wall of rock in front of him disappeared, exposing a cave opening.

Roman fell back, dropping the stone. The wall closed up again. What the…?

He picked the amethyst up again and the wall opened, and when he let go, the wall closed. Roman slowly got up, grabbing the stone again. He had to be hallucinating. Roman walked up to where the wall should be and put out his hand. It hit nothing, passing right into the cave. The prince took out his sword, holding it at the ready as he made his way in. It was dark in the cave and smelled distinctly of wet stone. There were vines lining the walls and ground, some with little purple flowers growing on them. 

Prince Roman didn’t know how long he’d been walking for, but eventually he found the end of the cave. It was a large, cavernous space with rocks littered across the ground and… wait… was that a human? Roman did a double take and, yes, that was a human laying on the ground with their feet propped up on the cavern wall. They were in a dark violet tunic and black trousers with an equally dark cloak splayed out around him.

“Excuse me,” Roman called. “What  _are_  you doing in this cave?” The human didn’t move.

“Hello? Can you hear me? I asked you a question.” Roman was getting a bit frustrated by the lack of an answer. He was a prince and deserved to be treated as such.

“Yeah, of course I heard you, idiot. I just didn’t feel like acknowledging you since you insist on intruding on my space. Now can you please leave?” The stranger’s voice had just a hint of malice in it, though it was mostly laced with boredom.

“That is no way to be talking to a prince!” Prince Roman was really becoming angry at this stranger. Such disrespect!

The human let out a loud sigh and smoothly maneuvered into a standing position. They dramatically bowed. “Whatever, Royal Pain.” Roman scoffed. The human stood back up and rolled their icy gray eyes. They flicked their dark hair to mostly cover their face, though the frown was still clearly visible.

“Who do you think you are?” In no world should anyone disrespect royalty like that. Roman crossed his arms.

“Virgil. Now, I’d suggest you leave before your kingdom ends up finding out their precious prince has lost his pride to a guy in a fucking cave.” The stranger smirked at the prince standing in front of him for a moment before going back to his former position on the ground. 

Roman glared at the stranger and left the cave, determined to find out who that guy was.

* * *

It took Roman another four days to be able to get out of the kingdom again. This time, he also brought a little bit extra food (he had become very hungry on his ride back to the castle) and a few books in case he felt like reading during lunch.

Prince Roman made it easily back to the cave. He’d stashed the amethyst away under a large rock last time so nobody else would be able to find it. As soon as he picked it up, the entryway opened and he traversed the cave.

Once again, he found the stranger–was his name Virgil? Roman couldn’t really remember, but decided to call him that–laying on the ground with his feet propped up. Either he hadn’t noticed the prince’s presence or he refused to acknowledge it.

“Is that all you do, King Doom?” Roman quipped. 

The stranger groaned.“I thought you’d given up on trying to talk to me. What do you want now, Drama Queen?” Virgil spread his arms out to his sides, making himself look like some sort of deformed ‘t.’ 

Roman hesitated, but ultimately decided to walk a few steps closer, trying to get an even better look at the stranger. He looked to be the same age as the prince, or was at least similarly aged, and had on dark eyeshadow under his eyes. Around Virgil’s neck was a chain that held a similar looking crystal to the one in Roman’s own hand, though it was hard to spot on against the purple-hued shirt.

“‘Hello? Can you hear me? I asked you a question.’” Virgil mocked. He rolled onto his feet and smoothed out his tunic, walking up to the prince. Roman pulled out his sword and aimed it at the figure walking toward him.

“Easy, Sunshine. I’m not going to hurt you.” He continued to stride over.Roman narrowed his eyes, but let down his sword. Virgil was right; he had no sword and looked to have no malicious intent. He stopped a few feet away, a safe enough distance that if Roman did decide to swing, it probably wouldn’t be able to connect.

“Now, really. What are you doing here again?” Virgil gestured at the dark cave around them.

“I’ve been trying to find a dragon that’s been killing the cattle in my kingdom. I found this magical place–which is something that you must explain to me how you’re in here– and then found you,” Roman explained. Virgil looked unimpressed.

“I  _may_  be able to help you with that dragon, but…” Virgil trailed off.

“ _But what_ , Virgil?” Roman pressed. The black-clad boy sighed.

“But you have to bring me some food. I’m practically starving.” Roman examined the boy in front of him and it hit him that he was very gaunt, his clothes loosely hanging off of him.

“Fine. I’ll be back in a moment.” The prince ran back to where his horse was waiting for him outside and took the food out of his bag. He hadn’t yet eaten lunch and now seemed like a good enough time to do it. He had a roast beef sandwich and three apples, which seemed like it would be enough for the two to share. 

When Roman arrived back at the cave, Virgil had perched on top of one of the rocks, sitting cross-legged and staring at the ceiling. Roman coughed to announce his presence.

“Welcome back. Do you want to sit up here or should I come back down? I don’t want you to hurt yourself, Princey.” Roman never passed up an opportunity to show someone his strength, no matter how petty the insult was. He easily scaled the rock and plopped down next to Virgil. 

The prince tore his sandwich in half, passing one piece to Virgil as well as an apple, and began to happily munch on the delicious food. To Roman’s surprise, Virgil let a contented hum escape from his mouth as he took a slightly hesitant bite of the sandwich. Other than that, the two ate their food in silence. Virgil finished both the sandwich and the apple in a whole five minutes, though he more inhaled it than actually chewed the food.

“So,” Roman began as soon as he’d finished his last bite of apple. “What do you know about the dragon.”

Virgil locked eyes with Roman. “For starters, I’m the dragon.”


	2. Chapter 2

Roman nearly fell off the rock. “ _YOU WHAT_?” **  
**

“Look, I know this sounds bad, but trust me. I don’t want to kill your cattle,” Virgil rushed, grabbing the prince’s sleeve to prevent his fall. The prince gawked at him.

“You?! You’re the dragon? But you’re just a teenager!” Roman was just a few seconds away from screaming.

“And you’re just Prince Roman of Elia, yeah? I was  _cursed_  to be a dragon by a witch and have been hiding in this cave for months trying to get some kind of food while also not dying because your subjects want to kill the kid who tried to kill their cows. I need your help so I can not be a dragon anymore, Prince Charming.” Virgil knew the last part sounded extremely desperate, especially when his voice began to speed up.

Roman had a dazed look in his eyes, and Virgil knew he was barely soaking up any of this information. He rolled his eyes and lightly shook the prince.

“I need your help, so are you going to be my knight in shining armor or not?”  Roman finally snapped out of his daze.

“No. No, no, no, no, NO! This cannot be happening.” The prince tore himself out of Virgil’s grasp and slid off the rock, hurriedly making his way back to the entrance of the cave. The dragon-boy rolled his eyes and followed.

“Roman, I know this sounds crazy, but it’s true and I want your help. You’re the only one who’s actually seemed worthy of helping.” Virgil sped up his gait and easily caught up to Roman.

The prince stopped in his tracks, turning to the boy next to him. “ _SOUNDS_  CRAZY? This  _is_  crazy! And even if what you’re saying is true, why should I let you off the hook for killING MY KINGDOM’S LIVELIHOOD?”

“Yes, I know. But I’m bound to being close to this cave because it’s kinda hard to live in town when you turn into a dragon. Not to mention there’s nowhere nearby where I can go to someone and say ‘Hey, I have no money or anything to give to you, but will you give me food for the next, hmm, forever so I don’t have to eat tons of your cattle in my dragon form. Oh yeah, I’m a fucking dragon by the way and turn into one every day at nightfall!’” Virgil was exasperated. He knew it would be hard to convince Roman to help him, but he’d never imagined it’d be  _this_  hard. Then he thought of an idea.

“Look, I’ll show you something I can do. I can’t fully transform, but minor changes in my appearance can be done.” The boy gestured to his face and flashed his purple slitted eyes and gave a fangy smile.

“Oh. My goodness. That. You were. Oh my gosh,” Roman sputtered. Virgil couldn’t help laughing; the prince’s expression was absolutely priceless.

“I know, I know. I’m pretty beautiful, right?” Virgil joked. “But in all seriousness, does that compel you enough help me? I don’t want me to have to kill your livestock any more than you do.”

“I… Yeah. I’ll help you. What do we need to do?” Roman asked. The other teen began to rant off what he knew.

“I suppose we’ll have to find the witch who did this to me and get her to turn me back. That or kill her. That might work. But I do know that she was a very powerful witch and I don’t think anyone else would be able to reverse the spell even if they tried.” Virgil gave a sympathetic shrug, knowing it was a steep favor to ask.

“Okay. Well, we need a team to help. Um, there are two princes in nearby kingdoms who might help. They’re pretty good friends of mine and our quest would be exponentially easier with them on our side as well.” Roman’s face was hard with concentration, but only seconds later his face fell. “But I have to figure out a way to get out of princely duties for the next however long without telling my parents that I’m going on a quest with the guy who’s been terrorizing our kingdom to make it so that said guy isn’t a dragon anymore.”

“Just say that you’re going to be traveling around with me because my parents have gone missing and, since you’re  _obviously_  a strong and helpful prince, I asked you to help. Tell them it might take a while because we have no idea where they are. Simple.” Virgil put on his most confident voice. He knew it probably wouldn’t be that easy, but he really had to make sure they’d be able to go on this mission.

“Alright. We should go travel to the other kingdoms and gain the help of Logan and Patton before we try to confront the king and queen. Them being there would probably help. I shall be right back; I must send a squire to my parents and tell them that I won’t be back tonight.” And with that, Roman walked off, leaving Virgil alone in his cave once more.

* * *

Honestly, Virgil hadn’t expected the prince to come back. He was pretty sure that excuse he’d made was just so he could get away, but apparently he’d been wrong.

“Virgil, are you in here? We should start our expedition soon or we won’t arrive in Aendria until after nightfall,” Roman’s voice rang through the cave like a bell. Virgil shot up into a sitting position from where he was laying lackadaisically on the ground.

“Yeah, Princey. I’m here.” He stood up and brushed off his clothes before heading towards the entrance of the cave. Roman was standing beside what Virgil assumed to be one of the royal horses with an excited expression on his face.

“Awesome! Now, let’s get going! I filled up my canteen with water before I came back so if you get thirsty, just ask.” The prince walked in an arbitrary direction from the mouth of the cave and Virgil assumed that he should probably follow. He took the amethyst that’d been in his pocket and dropped it carefully behind a pile of rocks before following Roman.

“So, who are we going to get first?” Virgil asked nonchalantly. He didn’t want to have to deal with an awkward silence for the entire gods-know-how-long journey.

“Prince Patton of Aendria. He’s a wonderful prince; very happy and loved by all of his subjects. He rules spectacularly and is wonderful with foreign affairs. Plus, he’s been one of my best friends since we were children,” Roman continued to ramble about Prince Patton for at least three more minutes. Virgil wanted to take back what he’d previously thought about the silence.

“I… Are you even listening?” Roman waved a hand in front of his companion’s face. Verge snapped out of his thoughts.

“Honestly, not really. I stopped after you said something about being childhood friends. You never fucking stop talking, did you know that?” Virgil was beginning to grow anxious about the quest. A voice at the back of his mind kept telling him that he was going to get hurt and he was going to get everyone else hurt as well. That he’d never be able to break the curse. It was gnawing at him.

“Well, Doom and Gloom, some people actually cherish their friendships.”

“Well, jackass, some people grew up being shipped from place to place never being able to make friends because their parents are fucking dead and nobody wants to foster them for more than a month or two!” Virgil snapped back, absolutely furious at Roman’s statement. He obviously hadn’t known, but it still hurt Virgil nonetheless.

“Oh,” the prince said quietly. “I’m sorry; I had no idea…” He hung his head.

“No, it’s fine. It’s been a long time… And I shouldn’t have snapped at you. There’s no way you could’ve known.” Virgil sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

The two walked in awkward silence for an hour before Roman spoke up. “So, uh, what did you do to incur the wrath of this witch?” Virgil’s heart skipped a beat; he hadn’t even thought about the fact that he’d eventually have to tell Roman what’d happened.

“Well, I went to try and get revenge on her for killing my parents. I was really little when it’d happened so I didn’t find out until much later, when I’d finally turned eighteen. She was obviously far stronger than I was and decided death wasn’t good enough for me. Fast forward to now, where I turn into a dragon each night,” he explained. Internally, he was halfway to crying at the thought of his parents’ deaths. Most of his village had been consumed in a dark fog that killed everything it touched and his parents were stuck right in the middle of it.

“I feel like I remember being told about that after it happened. So you’re from the Faymont Kingdom?” Virgil simply nodded in response and the prince continued talking. “That’s quite a ways away from Elia; how did you get all the way here?”

“Like I said before, I was shipped around from foster home to foster home. Nobody wanted the weird kid with mental illnesses and constant nightmares about his personal tragedies. Once a kingdom ran out of foster homes for me, I was taken to another kingdom until I finally ended up in Curon. And then once I’d fought the witch, I had to search for a safe place to hide for the rest of eternity and luckily found that cave.” Once Virgil had stopped talking, it was Roman’s turn to nod. The duo returned to silently walking, though this time it was rather peaceful.

* * *

“Aha! We have arrived in Aendria!” Roman exclaimed, making some grand gesture that Virgil honestly didn’t catch. He’d eventually zoned out so much he hadn’t even kept track of how long they’d been walking. At some point he’d flicked his cloak’s hood over his head, though he couldn’t remember why or when, and Roman had rolled up his sleeves. The sun was lying low on the horizon now, so Virgil assumed at least two hours had passed.

The cloaked man took in his surroundings. There were flowers  _everywhere_ , which wasn’t a hyperbole. Purple, blue, and pink flowers grew on vines that wrapped around the nearby buildings and white daisies poked from in the cracks between the cobblestones under his feet. Each house was painted a different color and added to the intensely bright aura the town gave off. Virgil subconsciously tugged his cloak closer to his body, feeling incredibly out of place in his dark clothes.

“Prince Roman! What brings you to our kingdom today, your highness?” A girl just about his age called from a booth selling different baked goods.

“I have come to see Patton, Miss Valerie!” Roman veered toward her, forcing Virgil to follow. “How have your sales been lately? Everything smells incredible, as always.”

“People haven’t been stopping as frequently, but everything has still been enough to keep me afloat.” Valerie gave a dazzling smile and straightened the apron around her waist.

“Well, my friend Virgil and I would like to purchase a loaf of bread and a dozen cinnamon muffins, if you have that many in stock,” the prince said with a flourish. Virgil couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the dramatic gesture.

“Alright!” Valerie expertly boxed up the order and handed it to Roman, who gave her a small pouch of coins, of which denomination Verge didn’t know, since he was unfamiliar with the currency of Aendria.

“Thank you, kind maiden, and may the gods bless your business and bring you good fortune!” And with that, they took off towards the castle. Along the way, other citizens called out to Roman, wishing him well and casually conversing with him. Virgil was extremely confused; in each kingdom he’d lived in, the princes rarely ever interacted with their own subjects, let alone those from other kingdoms.

“Gods, do you know everyone in this kingdom?” inquired Virgil, lowering his voice just enough so nobody but Roman would hear.

“For the most part, yes,” the prince replied, waving at a young girl who walked past. “I visit here quite often and many of Patton’s subjects have come to enjoy conversing with me. They are all very cheery and pleasant to talk with.” Verge nodded and turned his attention to the large gate they’d almost reached.

“Hello, soldier! We are here to see Prince Patton.” Roman’s voice was regal as he swept into a bow.

“Of course, your highness, though your companion must first go through a search so we can make sure he will do no harm to any of the royal family,” the guard monotoned, gesturing to Virgil.

“Sir, I do realize that it is of utmost importance to protect Patton and his parents, but Virgil has been traveling with me for many hours and I can assure you that he has no weapons besides his glare. We have a very urgent matter to discuss with the prince and we would greatly appreciate if you would just let us thr–”

“No can do,” the soldier cut off. “It will only take a minute. Sir, can you please take off your cloak and spread out your arms?” Virgil’s heart sank. He had nothing on him, but that didn’t mean getting frisked by the palace guard was anything to be calm about. His now shaking hands pulled his hood down and undid the clasp at the front of his throat, allowing the cloak to fall to the ground. As the guard ran his hands across his body, he could feel his fingernails turn to sharp claws and eyes change to deep purple from the sheer stress he was feeling.

Finally, the search was over. “You’re free to go.” Virgil rushed to throw his cloak on, pulling the hood far over his eyes to hide any traces of dragon that hadn’t faded yet.

Roman lead the way to the stables, handing over his beloved horse to the stable boy. Verge could’ve sworn he heard the prince threaten something along the lines of “if you so much as dent my baby, I will not be afraid to throw you into a large cart of horse poop,” but it was said too fast for him to be sure. They then actually entered the castle and Virgil nearly fainted from the bright colors that accosted his eyes.

“Holy shit, this place is like a pastel wonderland! It’s like they’ve never even heard of the color black.” He pulled his cloak hood back and blinked a few times, trying to get used to the brightness. Roman laughed and pulled Virgil forward by the arm.

“Come on, Storm Cloud, let’s get Patton.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Roman! It’s so good to see you! How’ve you been? And who is your friend?” Prince Patton exclaimed as soon as Roman and Virgil walked into the throne room. He ran up to his good friend and gave him a giant hug. The prince was dressed in a similar get-up to Roman, but Patton’s sash was a vibrant blue against a light grey tunic and white trousers and he had a pair of black glasses on. He fit perfectly in the bright kingdom he would soon come to rule.

“I’m fantastic, dear Patton!” Roman said as soon as he was released from the hug. “Pat, meet Virgil. The two of us have come to ask your assistance on a quest.”

Patton’s eyebrows raised slightly. “Oh? What’s this quest you’re going on?”

“Well, your highness,” Virgil started, giving a small bow before continuing. “We’re trying to find a witch and ultimately have her lift a curse that she placed on me.” He felt like a sore thumb in the colorful room, a dark and gloomy cloud in an otherwise clear sky.

“Quite right. I thought that you would be very helpful since you are great for heightening morale and you’re a wonderful asset in battle,” Roman added.

“I’m flattered that you think so highly, Roman. And Virgil, please skip the formalities! I’d really prefer to be called Patton. Regardless, I’d be so happy go join you on your journey! I’m assuming we’ll be going to get Logan as well.” Patton’s already dazzling smile grew even bigger as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

“Of course! We couldn’t leave out Sir Calculus. Our team would be greatly hindered without his intelligence,” the overly dramatic prince said. Virgil rolled his eyes and glanced out the window. It was nearly nightfall; he’d need to get out of the castle soon so he could change without possibly destroying a wing of the castle.

“I  _hate_  to disrupt your wonderful reunion, guys, but it’s almost nightfall and I  _really_  don’t want to have the royal guard on my tail because there’s a dragon in the castle. If we could maybe take this outside so I can transform, that’d be fantastic,” Virgil interjected, his voice laced with worry. He hadn’t been this far away from the cave in so long and it was giving him anxiety to think about being a dragon this close to a castle of a kingdom he’d never been in before.

Patton, however, didn’t seem to sense the anxiety. “Woah! You can become a  _dragon_? That’s so cool!” Verge hesitated but gave a small nod.

“Yes, it can be cool at times, but it’s a little bit of a hinderance when you’re trying not to be murdered by villagers, you know? Anyway, I’m going to be needing to make my leave, so if you could maybe find me a place to sleep where I’ll be safe, that’d be fantastic.” The sarcastic edge to his voice was unintentional, but Virgil was beginning to feel the effects of his change bubbling up inside of him.

“Right, of course. Um, I guess you could stay in the ballroom. Nobody goes in there unless we’re having a party and it’s very large. Roman, you can stay in one of the guest rooms if you’d like, or I can have someone fetch a mattress so you can also stay in the ballroom.” Patton began to lead the way out of the throne room and down a long hall. At the end, he pulled open a large set of doors and exposed a large, grand room with an equally extravagant chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“I’ll stay in here, too. Though don’t mind with the mattress, Patton. I can just sleep on one of the couches, if you don’t mind, of course.” Roman gave his friend that dazzling smile of his.

“If you’re okay with that, then you’re welcome to. I’ll be down here at eight, so we can go then. See you both in the morning!” Patton bade the duo farewell and gently closed the ballroom doors, leaving them alone.

Virgil abruptly fell to the marble floor with a groan of pain. The prince moved to turn to him, but was stopped in his tracks.

“No! Please, just look away until I’m finished transforming,” Virgil pleaded. Roman abided, turning fully away and covering his eyes for good measure.

After what felt like an eternity, Roman felt a light tap on his back. When he turned around he was greeted by a  _giant_  purple dragon with green eyes.

“ _Oh my stars!_  A little bit of warning would be nice!” The prince dramatically clutched his chest as he reprimanded Virgil.

Even as a dragon, Verge’s sass maintained its power. The dragon rolled his eyes and a deep, powerful growl echoed through the ballroom. The little twinkling sound of the glass drops on the chandelier followed closely, adding a whole new level of mysticality.

“You should be thanking the gods that you have such an understanding prince for a guide, for any of the other princes in the lands would have slain you on sight!” Virgil fought hard not to roll his eyes again as he thought back to the day he’d met Roman. When the prince had literally pulled a sword out on him for no reason.

The dragon shook his head and settled down on the floor, curling his wings tightly to his sides. Roman understood the gesture and began to take off his boots and the excessive ornaments on his tunic before flopping onto the nearest couch. It was far prettier than it was comfortable.

“Goodnight, my Angel of Shade,” Roman mumbled before drifting off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after ten (almost eleven) months of slumber, virgil finally wakes up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK FROM THIS GODDAMN HIATUS MOTHERFUCKERS

Virgil vaguely noted that the surface he was laying on was very cold. And hard. That in and of itself was confusing because Virgil always slept on the plush moss and lichen in the corner of his cave, not on the rocky floor. Sure, he'd often lay on the hard ground during the day, but that was only because he'd never move if he didn't make the short journey around his cavern. There was only so much one could do with two stolen books in a cave.

But back to the more important matter--why the fuck was he sleeping on such a hard surface? Where  _was_  he?

Virgil snapped his eyes open, worried that he'd been caught and locked up, but he found himself in a grand ballroom.  _Oh yeah_... Patton's palace. Roman had brought him there yesterday, and--

"Shit!" he said, looking around. Roman was nowhere to be seen, and Virgil hoped that he hadn’t been around to witness the transformation from dragon to human. That would be absolutely humiliating. Virgil despised himself in his dragon form enough, but transforming was an entirely different kind of embarrassment.

Grumbling to himself, the dragon-boy slowly stood up. He carefully stretched his sore muscles from both the long journey and the fact that he had slept on marble flooring all night. His joints cracked mercilessly, and Virgil rather enjoyed feeling everything loosen up. He dawdled around by adjusting his clothing and searching for any holes that he may have gotten over the past day. This time allowed him to think about everything.

Roman was being so... oddly  _kind_  to him. As was Patton, but the cheery attitude seemed to fit the kingdom rather well. Virgil just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up. Princes didn’t just randomly help their nemeses, right? What if Roman had just taken him to Patton’s kingdom as a joke, and he’d be kicked out as soon as the opportunity struck. Or, maybe, he was planning to have Virgil executed here so that he wouldn’t have to worry about the blood being on his hands. Or they’d continue on to Logan, only to have them throw Virgil out as a cruel joke, leaving him to fend for himself in an entirely foreign environment.

Any way that this went, Virgil probably wouldn’t be able to survive.

So Virgil decided he’d be leaving on his own accord. He’d sneak out right now, grab the bags of coins from Twilight’s saddle bag, and get the hell out of Dodge before anyone noticed his absence. His plan was perfect, but--

A timid knock reverberated through the door. “Virgil? Um, it’s Patton. Are you awake yet?"

_Damn it._

"Uh, yeah..."

"Great. I'd like to accompany you to the dining room. Roman is already there, and I supposed that you don't really know your way around this castle." Patton turned the doorknob and let himself in. The prince was wearing a similar outfit to yesterday, but his pants were cropped to his knees, and his shirt had only short sleeves. He noticed Virgil's staring and spoke up again. "It's rather hot today, sorry. My kingdom figured out these short, loose clothes to keep us cool while still maintaining some manner of decency."

"Um... Cool, Patton."

“Exactly!”

Virgil only blinked. Now that Patton was here, it would be impossible to get away. With a sigh, he followed Patton out the door and down the halls a ways. It seemed like all hope of escaping the castle was lost, but it only took a second for a plan to form in his head.

“Hey, your highness?”

“Patton.”

“Uh, yeah,” Virgil corrected. “Patton. So, uh… is there a washroom I could use?”

Patton paused, thinking. “Yeah, sorry. There’s so many rooms in this place that I sometimes forget what’s where. This way.”

It took everything in Virgil’s power not to roll his eyes at the royal. He’d only ever had a maximum of ten rooms in any given house he had lived in... Ever. He’d seen more rooms in this hallway than he had in his entire life, and Patton didn’t live in any of them. The gap of wealth would have been startling to anyone else, but Virgil was pretty much as poor as one could get, so it wasn’t even surprising. It was just a cynical reminder that he would never live anything better than a mediocre life because he had been refused a basic education (he made do with what little he could figure out or learn from the nicer children he’d met), had no relations to nobility, all of his parents’ belongings were destroyed when he was a child, and he was partially a dragon. You know, the usual.

But Patton had nothing to fear. He was well-liked among his people, and he had access to unimaginable wealth. He had a better education than every commoner combined. He could do anything. He was a lion, and Virgil was no more than a speck of dust.

Virgil shook the thoughts out of his head. He knew that he shouldn’t reduce Patton down to money, but... that’s how things had always been for him. The rich didn’t care for him because he was poor, and he didn’t care for the rich for the same reason. Royalty didn’t care about their subjects. That was just how the world worked, right? Virgil had come to terms with that notion, and that was why he was leaving. Sure, Roman had seemed a good candidate to help on the quest to de-dragonify Virge, but that was a fever dream if there ever was one. It couldn’t happen. It  _wouldn’t_  happen.

Patton suddenly stopped, swinging open a door. “Here we are! Feel free to use whatever you need, and there’s usually a pair of fresh clothes or two in that cupboard if you would like to change.”

“Um, thank you. And where is the dining hall?”

“It’s just off from the main corridor. From here, go right, then take the last left—you know, at the giant hall—and take the last right before the front doors. It’s the third door from there.” Patton smiled softly. “I’ll be waiting there, okay?”

“Sounds fantastic. Bye.” Virgil shit the dork quickly, cringing at the confused hum Patton made before walking away. He hated to be so curt, but he just wanted Patton gone. The sooner he was away, the better.

The minutes ticked by at a mercilessly slow pace. There was one instance where Virgil thought it would finally be safe to leave when a set of footsteps came out of nowhere, and he was forced to wait until they had passed yet again. When he was actually able to open the door with little worry about being caught, he slowly inched it open just in case. It was unlikely that anyone was nearby, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

He slipped out of the crack he made and sighed. Final stretch, and he'd be out of this castle once and for all. He just needed to get to--

The door opposite him swung open faster than Virgil would have been able to drive back into the washroom. Virgil froze, not really knowing what to do, as Roman stepped into the hallway. The prince smiled upon seeing the dragon-boy, which was honestly just weird, while the latter just grimaced.

"Ah. So Sunshine did finally rise, huh?" Roman's tone teasing and light, but it only put Virgil off more. In his mind, that only solidified the fact that this was all some cruel joke, and he'd either be dead or homeless by the end of the day. Well, he already was homeless, but this added public humiliation and evicting him from his cave.

So, to counteract this blatant cruelty, Virgil pitched in some of his finest sass. "Not everyone needs to wake up at the crack of dawn because he needs to spend four hours every morning making himself look mediocre at best." Roman's shoulders sagged the tiniest bit, and for the first time since they had met, the sparkle in Roman's dark eyes faded. Roman's posture righted itself in an instant, but his eyes were still flat.

It kind of hurt Virgil to see...

“First of all, I only spend thirty minutes on my appearance, Mr. Sulk. Not to mention that I look absolutely fabulous even without the time I do spend on it! You’re just jealous because your skin tone looks papery next to your hair color; whereas, both my skin and hair look golden.”

“Whatever. I wasn’t here to fight,” Virgil dismissed, letting his hair flop into his face.

“Of course!” Roman all but screamed. “Shall we walk to breakfast together?”

 _Shit_.

“ _No_!”

The prince’s eyebrows furrowed. “Huh?”

“I mean... I need to go back to the ballroom. I accidentally left my, uh, amethyst back there I think. I’ll join you guys in a second.”

“I’ll come with you. Then we can walk together, and—“

Virgil nearly killed the man then and there. “Patton’s waiting, Roman. Explain to him why I’m a bit later than I said I’d be, okay? I have no idea where I lost the stone, so it might take me a bit.”

Roman looked suspicious, but he just nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you in the dining hall.”

Virgil was so glad that he was going to leave and never have to meet Prince Logan because if he did, he might have committed a triple homicide. Princes were so fucking stupid.

The two took off in opposite directions down the hallway, and Virgil nearly collapsed on the ground in some strange conglomeration of relief and frustration upon entering the ballroom. He was glad to be away from the royals, but it was infuriating that he had to take such backwards measures to get them off of his back. He didn’t understand why they couldn’t just let him me. Was it part of the trick? Get him comfortable and feeling loved before he is inevitably made fun of?

A rogue sigh escaped Virgil. He needed to get out of this stupid castle and the stupid royalty that lived inside of it. With a strong push, he was back on his feet and striding towards the main doors. To any passerby who knew of his presence in the castle, it would seem like he was going to the dining hall to meet his two princely companions, but at the last second, he would forego turning towards his “destination” and slip out the front doors instead. Then he would be free.

And that part of his plan actually worked splendidly. He stepped foot onto the cobblestone path in front of the castle full of childhood glee. He made it. He actually fucking snuck out of the castle!

Without taking a moment to actually drink that success in, Virgil made a beeline for the stables. He knew exactly what he was looking for, and he got it without a second glance. The stableboy was too intimidated by the dark persona to stop him from claiming “something for Prince Roman” from Twilight’s saddlebags and going on his merry way. Really, all Virgil took was an indescribable amount of the currency of Patton’s kingdom as well as the pouch of Desa coins from Roman’s. He should have felt guilty for stealing the money, but it was from princes who were planning to possibly kill him, so he really didn’t.

Walking out of the gates was easy enough, as was walking down the main road. A few children stopped to ask him if he would buy their flower crowns, but he politely declined them all. He couldn’t afford to spend the money on something so frivolous. Who knew how fast these coins would run out and he’d have to resort to scavenging again?

Of course, he was thinking about this when the tiniest five year old he had probably ever seen walked up to him, tugging on his pant leg. She was dressed in a ratty old dress—quite possibly handed down through several children already—and held a gorgeous pink flower crown.

“I’m sorry, sir, but will you buy this flower crown? I think that it will suit you very nicely.” Virgil nearly felt his cold, dead heart melt.

“Of course, kid.” He kneeled down so he was closer to eye level, rummaging out what he thought was a decent amount to give this child. “What is your name?”

“I’m Elise!” Her voice was accented by giggles, and Virgil instantly felt the need to do something nice for this little girl.

“Alright, Elise.” He clipped the crown to his hip. “My name is Virgil. I will be back in just a few minutes. Can you promise not to stray too far?” The little girl nodded excitedly; virgil took that as enough of an answer to walk back up the street to the tailor he’d seen. There, he bought about a three square foot strip of pink fabric with some pink thread and a needle. He spent quite a lot of the money he had, but he felt like it was completely worth it.

When Virgil arrived back at the spot he had left, Elise was only a few feet away, sitting on a porch. Within an instant, the little girl was bouncing around his feet, asking him what he was going to do. The young man smiled and awkwardly wrapped his cloak in a makeshift shirt as he took off his long tunic, handing it to Elise.

“Go change into this and bring back your dress. I’m going to fix it up for you, okay?” Elise nodded and practically sprinted back to her own house, which was just a few houses down, and returned a few minutes later with her dress in hand. Carefully, Virgil took it. He held it up and inspected the holes in the sleeves and bodice and skirt. Most of them were rather small, but there were larger ones around the bottom of the skirt and on the back panel. With a sigh, he began to tear strips of the fabric to cover the holes. It didn’t take very long to finish, and Virgil was glad that he’d learned to sew his own clothes from scraps he found on the streets when he was young, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he should be doing more for Elise.

“Ohhhhh! It’s so pretty, Virgil!” she squealed as he waved her back over. The little girl tore the dress from his hands and ran back to her house to change. She was back like lightning, admiring the dress incredulously. “I look like a princess!”

Virgil grinned a real, genuine grin. He slipped his shirt on as he spoke. “Yeah, Elise. You look exactly like a princess.” He paused, thinking about what he would say next. “Would you to come with me to get some muffins?” The question was barely finished when the little girl flew into his arms, screaming, “yes” into his ears at a decibel that was probably only possible to be made by small five year olds. He hoisted her up into her arms, frowning at how little she weighed, and began to take off toward the stand he and Roman had stopped at the previous day.

They didn’t even make it two blocks before Virgil felt a rough hand on his shoulder.

“Stop,” the voice commanded; it was too rough to be Patton’s and too gravely to be Roman’s. Virgil froze. “You are under arrest for attempted kidnapping of this little girl. Put her down.”

Virgil complied, but he quickly turned around to explain himself. “I wasn’t kidnapping her—I swear! We’re... friends.”

The police officer gave him a look. “That is highly inappropriate and will be used against you in trial.”

“What?!” Behind him, Elise began to cry. Virgil turned to comfort her. “Hey, it’s okay, kid. I’ll be—“ Something was whacked into his shoulder, sending him crumpling to the ground. Elise screamed, and Virgil saw a different police officer try to pick her up. She began to run around crying, obviously not wanting to be touched by the stranger. He tried to stand up and explain, but a heavy boot slammed onto his back. He was going to be arrested with basically no proof, and they’d discover his stolen coins, and Roman and Patton would find out, and they’d have all the more reason to execute him because—

“What the heck is going on here?” Patton’s sharp voice cut through his thoughts.

 _Fuck_.

The first officer spoke up. “This young man is under arrest for attempted kidnapping, attempted child indecency, and resisting arrest.”

“Look at how distressed this child is!” The second pointed out, having now rangled Elise up into his arms

“That is wholly untrue! She saw me get hurt; that’s why she’s crying.” Virgil shouted despite himself. A wicked crack rang out as the officer stomped on his back once more, probably cracking one or more of his ribs.

Then, Patton and Roman spoke at once. “Virgil?!”

_Welp. It’s death either way, right?_

“Heyyyy...”

“Officers, unhand the child and Virgil at once!” Roman said with grandiose only capable by himself.

“But—the child—arrest—“ they floundered. Then, suddenly, the boot was lifted from Virgil’s back, and he was roughly yanked to his feet. Elise was clamped to his leg not a second later, sobbing into his pant leg.

Patton waved the two officers over to him with an unnaturally sweet smile. He leaned in closer, and only then did Virgil see the fire in his eyes. His voice was hushed as he said, “If I  _ever_  see that kind of unwarranted violence by you or any other officers, I will personally fire every single one of you. I do not care if you need this job. It is obviously not the right one for you if you think this is the necessary precautions for apprehending someone.” He paused. “Do you hear me?”

“Yes, your highness!” the police squeaked in tandem.

“Great!” Patton said with his usual sunny smile. “Run along, then. You are no longer needed in this area.”

Virgil had never seen people move so fast in his life.

While hauling Elise back up onto his hip, Virgil made the mistake of making eye contact with Roman, so immediately pounced. "What were you thinking? Leaving the castle out of nowhere and telling us nothing! Not to mention stealing all of my money. I trusted you! Was this all a plot to rob me?"

"If I wanted to rob you,” Virgil growled; his eyes turned deep purple. “I could have done so as soon as I met you.”

“Oh, sure, mister ‘I’m so special and strong—‘“

“Knock it off, Roman.” Virgil’s eyes had returned to their normal icy gray. “You’re going to scare Elise.” The stones under his heel crunched as he turned back towards his destination, not bothering to look back and see if the princes were following. They were.

They walked in silence for the next couple of minutes. It wasn’t a long walk to get to Valerie’s stand, but it was plenty of time for the air to get stale and awkward. Elise shifted in Virgil’s grasp, and he just held her closer. The second they were near enough, Virgil handed her the pouch of coins in the denomination of the kingdom.

“Go over to that nice lady’s stand and get some treats, okay? She’ll be able to help you get them all boxed up.” Elise nodded and ran off. Virgil sighed. He was regretting having to talk to the princes behind him, but he knew that it was unavoidable. He turned to face them, and—

“What the hell is your problem?!” Roman stage whispered.

“Roman! Do  _not_.” Patton put on what could only be described as a “dad face.”

“Fine,” Roman huffed. “Why did you leave?”

“You guys have got to be kidding, right? You’re going to either kill me or make a fool of me. That’s your goal. I am poor and wreaking havoc on Roman’s kingdom. You are rich. You don’t care about your subjects so much as you care about your kingdom’s prosperity. And I’m not a citizen of either of your kingdoms, so it is just as easy to kill me. And, if you kick me out, then I can’t return back to my cave. You know where it is, and going there would be a death sentence. I’d starve. Either way, I’m dead, so I took your damn coins—it’s not like you don’t have a ton of money anyway—and fucking left. I wanted to make it out of town before you realized that I was even missing, but I found Elise, and she looked so sad, and I had to help her. And you idiots caught up to me, so just fucking get it over with. Arrest me for stealing or have me executed or kick me out or--or  _something_. I don’t need the suspense.”

Roman and Patton froze.

What were they supposed to say to  _that_?


End file.
